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<h1>Let's do stuff with verbs!</h1>

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<center><span class="summary">Outline</span></center>
<ol>
<li><a href="#part1">Role of Verbs</a></li>
<li><a href="#part2">Classifying verbs into ru-verbs and u-verbs</a></li>
<li><a href="#part3">Appendix: iru/eru u-verbs</a></li>
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<h2 id="part1">Role of Verbs</h2>

We've now learned how to describe nouns in various ways with other nouns and adjectives.  This gives us quite a bit of expressive power.  However,
we still cannot express actions.  This is where verbs come in.  Verbs, in Japanese, always come at the end of clauses.  Since we have not yet
learned how to create more than one clause, for now it means that any sentence with a verb must end with the verb. We will now learn the two main
categories of verbs, which will allow us to accurately define rules for conjugation.  Before learning about verbs, there in one important thing to keep in mind.

<p />
<center>
<table class="note">
<tr><td><strong><b>A grammatically complete sentence requires a verb <u>only</u> (including state of being).</b></strong></td></tr>
</table>
</center>

<p>Or to rephrase, unlike English, the only thing you need to make a grammatically complete sentence is a verb and nothing else!
Understanding this
fundamental property is essential to understanding Japanese.  That's why even the simplest, most basic Japanese sentence
cannot be translated into English!  All conjugations will start from the dictionary form (as they appear in the dictionary). </p>

<p>A grammatically complete sentence
<br />（１）　<span title="たべる - to eat" class="popup">食べる</span>。- Eat. (possible translations include: I eat/she eats/they eat)
</p>

<h2 id="part2">Classifying verbs into ru-verbs and u-verbs</h2>
Almost all verbs in Japanese can be classified into two categories: ru-verb （<span title="いちだんどうし - type II verb" class="popup">一段動詞</span>） and
u-verbs （<span title="ごだんどうし - type I verb" class="popup">五段動詞</span>）.  The only two verbs that are not
considered to be in either category are 「<span title="する - to do" class="popup">する</span>」 meaning "to do" and
「<span title="くる - to come" class="popup">来る</span>」 meaning "to come". Otherwise, the rules for conjugation are almost all the same
depending on what class the verb is in.  The way to distinguish between these verbs is fairly straightforward.

<p>
Remember, every verb has a string of kana called okurigana, which you can modify to conjugate the verb. If you convert the verb to Roman 	characters (called 「<span title="ろーまじ - romanization" class="popup">ローマ字</span>」 in Japanese) and it ends in either "iru" or "eru", then it is usually a ru-verb. For example, 「<span title="たべる - to eat" class="popup">食べる</span>」 is romanized as "tab<em>eru</em>" and since it ends in "eru", it is a ru-verb. Another example of a ru-verb is 「<span title="おきる - to get up" class="popup">起きる</span>」, which romanizes to "ok<em>iru</em>". All other verbs that do not end in "iru" or "eru" are u-verbs.
</p>

<p>
However, there is just one snag here. Notice that all ru-verbs end with 「る」 and u-verbs always end in a / u / vowel sound. This unfortunately includes 「る」 in addition to 「つ」、「す」、「く」、「ぐ」、「む」、「ぶ」、「う」、and 「ぬ」 （「<span title="しぬ - to die" class="popup">死ぬ</span>」 is the only verb that ends in 「ぬ」）. Even if a verb ends with 「る」, if it does not end in "iru" or "eru", it is always an u-verb. However, there are a number of u-verbs that end in "iru" or "eru" and there is no way to distinguish them from regular ru-verbs apart from memorization. You can refer to the appendix at the end of this lesson for a list of such verbs. You can also refer to <a href="http://www.csse.monash.edu.au/cgi-bin/cgiwrap/jwb/wwwjdic?1C">Jim Breen's WWWJDIC</a>, if you have any doubts. Ru-verb are denoted as (v1) while u-verbs are denoted as (v5r).
</p>

<p>
Because of the aural consistency in the rules, with practice, u-verbs will start to "sound" like u-verbs and likewise for ru-verbs. Eventually, you'll be able to categorize new verbs just like that without giving it a second thought. Or at least, that should be the intended goal.
</p>

<div class="sumbox">
<span class="summary">How to classify ru-verbs and u-verbs</span>
<ul>
<li>Does not end in iru/eru → <b>u-verb</b>
<li>Ends in iru/eru → <b>ru-verb with some exceptions</b></li>
</ul>
</div>


<center>
<table border="0">
<tr>

<td>
<table border="1" cellpadding="5">
<caption>Sample ru-verbs</caption>

<tr align="center"><th>Verb</th><th>ローマ字</th></tr>

<tr align="center"><td><span title="たべる - to eat" class="popup">食べる</span></td><td>tab<em>eru</em></td></tr>

<tr align="center"><td><span title="きる - to wear" class="popup">着る</span></td><td>k<em>iru</em></td></tr>

<tr align="center"><td><span title="しんじる - to believe" class="popup">信じる</span></td><td>shinj<em>iru</em></td></tr>

<tr align="center"><td><span title="ねる - to sleep" class="popup">寝る</span></td><td>n<em>eru</em></td></tr>

<tr align="center"><td><span title="おきる - to get up" class="popup">起きる</span></td><td>ok<em>iru</em></td></tr>

<tr align="center"><td><span title="でる - to come out" class="popup">出る</span></td><td>d<em>eru</em></td></tr>

<tr align="center"><td><span title="かける - to hang" class="popup">掛ける</span></td><td>kak<em>eru</em></td></tr>

<tr align="center"><td><span title="すてる - to throw away" class="popup">捨てる</span></td><td>sut<em>eru</em></td></tr>

<tr align="center"><td><span title="しらべる - to investigate" class="popup">調べる</span></td><td>shirab<em>eru</em></td></tr>
</table>
</td>

<td rowspan="2">
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
</td>

<td>
<table border="1" cellpadding="5">
<caption>Sample u-verbs</caption>
<tr align="center"><th>Verb</th><th>ローマ字</th></tr>

<tr align="center"><td><span title="はなす - to speak" class="popup">話す</span></td><td>hanasu</td></tr>

<tr align="center"><td><span title="きく - to hear, to ask" class="popup">聞く</span></td><td>kiku</td></tr>

<tr align="center"><td><span title="およぐ - to swim" class="popup">泳ぐ</span></td><td>oyogu</td></tr>

<tr align="center"><td><span title="あそぶ - to play" class="popup">遊ぶ</span></td><td>asobu</td></tr>

<tr align="center"><td><span title="まつ - to wait" class="popup">待つ</span></td><td>matu</td></tr>

<tr align="center"><td><span title="のむ - to drink" class="popup">飲む</span></td><td>nomu</td></tr>

<tr align="center"><td><span title="なおる - to be fixed" class="popup">直る</span></td><td>naoru</td></tr>

<tr align="center"><td><span title="しぬ - to die" class="popup">死ぬ</span></td><td>shinu</td></tr>

<tr align="center"><td><span title="かう - to buy" class="popup">買う</span></td><td>kau</td></tr>
</table>
</td>

<td rowspan="2">
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
</td>

<td valign="top">
<table border="1" cellpadding="5">
<caption>Neither ru-verb nor u-verb</caption>

<tr align="center"><th>Verb</th><th>ローマ字</th></tr>

<tr align="center"><td><span title="する - to do" class="popup">する</span></td><td>suru</td></tr>

<tr align="center"><td><span title="くる - to come" class="popup">くる</span></td><td>kuru</td></tr>

</table>
</td>
</tr>
</table>
</center>

<h3>Examples</h3>
Here are some example sentences using ru-verbs, u-verbs, and exception verbs.
<br />（１）　アリスは<em><span title="たべる - to eat" class="popup">食べる</span></em>。- As for Alice, eat.
<br />（２）　ジムが<em><span title="あそぶ - to play" class="popup">遊ぶ</span></em>。- Jim is the one that plays.
<br />（３）　ボブも<em><span title="する - to do" class="popup">する</span></em>。- Bob also do.
<br />（４）　<span title="おかね - money" class="popup">お金</span>が<em><span title="ある - to exist (inanimate)" class="popup">ある</span></em>。- There is money. (lit: As for money, it exists.)
<br />（５）　<span title="わたし - me, myself, I" class="popup">私</span>は<em><span title="かう - to buy" class="popup">買う</span></em>。- As for me, buy.
<br />（６）　<span title="ねこ - cat" class="popup">猫</span>は<em><span title="いる- to exist (animate)" class="popup">いる</span></em>。- There is cat. (lit: As for cat, it exists.)

<h2 id="part3">Appendix: iru/eru u-verbs</h2>
Here is a list of commonly used u-verbs that end in "iru" or "eru". This list is categorized roughly into three levels to help you focus on the verbs you need to learn. This list is <u>not</u> intended to include every verb under the sun.

<br /><br />
<center>
<table border="1" cellpadding="5">
<caption>iru/eru u-verbs grouped (roughly) by level</caption>
<tr align="center"><th>Basic</th><th>Intermediate</th><th>Advanced</th></tr>

<tr align="center">
<td><span title="いる - to need" class="popup">要る</span></td>
<td><span title="あせる - to be in a hurry" class="popup">焦る</span></td>
<td><span title="あざける - to ridicule" class="popup">嘲る</span></td>
</tr>

<tr align="center">
<td><span title="かえる - to go home" class="popup">帰る</span></td>
<td><span title="かぎる - to limit" class="popup">限る</span></td>
<td><span title="くつがえる - to overturn" class="popup">覆る</span></td>
</tr>

<tr align="center">
<td><span title="きる - to cut" class="popup">切る</span></td>
<td><span title="ける - to kick" class="popup">蹴る</span></td>
<td><span title="さえぎる - to interrupt" class="popup">遮る</span></td>
</tr>

<tr align="center">
<td><span title="しゃべる - to talk" class="popup">しゃべる</span></td>
<td><span title="すべる - to be slippery" class="popup">滑る</span></td>
<td><span title="ののしる - to abuse verbally" class="popup">罵る</span></td>
</tr>

<tr align="center">
<td><span title="しる - to know" class="popup">知る</span></td>
<td><span title="にぎる - to grasp" class="popup">握る</span></td>
<td><span title="ひねる - to twist" class="popup">捻る</span></td>
</tr>

<tr align="center">
<td><span title="はいる - to enter" class="popup">入る</span></td>
<td><span title="ねる - to knead" class="popup">練る</span></td>
<td><span title="ひるがえる - to turn over, to wave" class="popup">翻る</span></td>
</tr>

<tr align="center">
<td><span title="はしる - to run" class="popup">走る</span></td>
<td><span title="まいる (hum.)  - to go; to come" class="popup">参る</span></td>
<td><span title="めいる - to feel depressed" class="popup">滅入る</span></td>
</tr>

<tr align="center">
<td><span title="へる - to decrease" class="popup">減る</span></td>
<td><span title="まじる - to mingle" class="popup">交じる</span></td>
<td><span title="よみがえる - to be resurrected" class="popup">蘇る</span></td>
</tr>

</table>
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<div class="small" style="text-align:right;"><pre>This page has last been revised on 2006/9/17
Added small list of exception verbs (2006/9/6)
</pre>
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